(Audio)
Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one's life does not consist of possessions.
Wealth becomes a problem when we identify with it and can't see ourselves without it. It begins to dominate us instead of us simply putting it to use.
He asked himself, 'What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?'
Some isn't enough. We find ourselves needing more, thinking at last that will be enough. But it isn't. There is always the sense that if we just have however much more we can finally rest. Yet if we have so fully identified ourselves with this wealth that we do in fact believe that our lives consist in possessions there is no amount of greater wealth that will ever satisfy us.
The problem arises when we try to use wealth, pleasure, or any other good thing to fill a hole in our hearts that only God was meant to fill. When we try to fill that heart with anything less than God we find those things subject to the fluctuations of a constantly changing world. We sense that we can't hold them forever and so become afraid.
'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God."
Being rich in what matters to God is in some ways less obvious than to simply rely on things like wealth. Wealth seems more concrete, more definite, and more real. We can see it, and we can regularly observe the power it has. It takes faith to be rich in what matters to God. It is something that is more hidden than the things of this world. Yet for that it is no less real and no less powerful, if we have the eyes to see it.
Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief;
rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what God had promised
he was also able to do.
Ultimately the promises of God are more lasting than any promise that wealth can make. Let us trust him.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
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